EuroTrail – Rough Notes for our Europe trip

[1 USD = 0.377 BHD (Bahraini Dinar)]

Picking up from the itinerary of different conducted tour to get idea of the tour plans.

Some of the starting points:

1. It is coming out that April will still be cold in north so Good Friday and Easter holiday may not be correct time to travel. Though Summer – June, July is most appropriate time but they say it will be too crowded and costlier during that time. However May is recommended period.
2. Idea of starting from low cost entry point like Madrid would not work because if we want to include Spain then we may have to miss some other places. Best is to exclude Spain as that can be combined with another tour around Mediterranean.
3. Starting point can be any of the appended Cities however suggested one is Paris/ Amsterdam/ Brussels as Holland celebrate Queen’s Day on 30 April and it seems to be good thing to see. So if we reach Paris on 27 or 28 then we can reach Amsterdam on 29.
4. On the forums, what I got the feeling that instead of hotels, trying B&B (Bed and Breakfast rooms/ Apartments provided by house owners) could be cheaper and better bet. Hostels are another option but that may not be fine with Kids. Though on further checks B&B are also coming to nearly three star hotels.

Appended are tours provided by some tour operators. I have selected my pick and this is what comes out:

Amsterdam (2 days)

Brussels (1 day)

Luxemburg (0 day)

Frankfurt (2 days)

Munich (1 day)

Innsbruck (1 day)

Venice (1 day)

Florence (2 days)

Rome (2 days)

Lucerne (2 days)

Paris (2 days)

Or Start from Paris – Brussels – Amsterdam – Cologne – Frankfurt – Munich – Salzburg – Zurich – Lucerne – Milan – Venice – Florence – Rome

Travel time indicatives:

Amsterdam

Arnhem (1 hr from Amsterdam)

Cologne (3 hrs from Amsterdam or 2 hrs from Arnhem)

Rhine Valley

Bonn (12 hr from Cologne)

Bacharach on the Rhine, Cruise Rhine

(between Koblenz and Mainz) (2 hours from Cologne) (Frankfurt is around 2 hours from here)

St Goar

Rhine Land

Dachau

Heidelberg ( 2 hrs from Bacharach or 1 hr from Frankfurt)

Rothenburg

Triberg

Black Forest

Schaffhausen - Rhine Falls

Munich/ Andechs (3 hrs from Heidelberg or 3 hrs from Frankfurt)

Austria Tiol

Neuschwanstein Castle

Reutte (3 hrs from Munich) / Salzburg (2 hrs from Munich)/ Innsbruck ((2.5 hrs from Munich)

Venice (6 to 10 hrs from Innsbruck or 8 to 11 hours from Munich or 7 to 9 hours from Salzburg)

Florence (3 to 4 hrs from Venice) and Pisa

Vatican City

Rome (2 hours from Florence)

Tuscany

Lucerne (9 to 14 hrs from Florence – Not convenient or 1 hr from Zurich)

Zurich (9 to 14 hrs from Florence – 1 direct overnight train available)

Dijon (6 hrs from Lucerne) / Beaune (France – Burgundy) (7 to 13 hrs from Lucerne)

Paris (7 to 10 hrs from Lucerne or 3 to 4 hrs from Beaune)

Additional Brussels (3 hrs from Amsterdam then 3 hrs to Cologne or 2 hrs from Paris)

Additional Luxembourg (3 hours from Brussels and then 4 to 5 hours to Frankfurt)

Or Paris – Brussels – Amsterdam – Cologne – Frankfurt – Munich – Salzburg – Zurich – Lucerne – Milan – Venice – Florence – Rome

2 persons (level 2 estimates)

Air ticket to Amsterdam/ Paris – BHD 250*2 = BHD 500

Eurorail pass (Eurail 1st Class Adult 15 Consecutive Days Companion/Saver Pass) – USD 512*2 = USD 1024 = BHD 400

Hotels – Average EUR 100*14 = EUR 1400 = BHD 700

Musuem passes etc 10*20*2 = EUR 400 = BHD 200

Others – BHD 500

Total = BHD 2300 for two (hotels)

May come down to BHD 2000 if managed by B&Bs

Acco:

Paris:

http://www.hotel-paris-orient.com/English/Rates.htm

EUR 108

Amsterdam

http://www.nl-hotel.com/rates.htm

EUR 125

http://www.hemp-hotel.com/

EUR 70

http://www.phildutch.net/rates.php

House boat EUR 50 pp

Munich

http://www.hotelbiederstein.de/html/rooms__prices.html

EUR 100

Rome

http://www.rosettahotel.com/

EUR 85

B&B - http://www.daphne-rome.com/script/rates.php

130

Venice

http://www.turismovenezia.it/eng/dynalay.asp?PAGINA=445&ID=12616

EUR 100

Suburb - B&B - http://www.faronhof.com/en/rooms.htm

EUR 50

Florence

http://www.hotelbellettini.com/

EUR 140

Near Frunkfurt

http://www.loreleytal.com/bacharach/im-malerwinkel/e/index.htm

EUR 57

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Merger of all tours to give idea which is more famous:

c1,2 – London

t2, 3 - London

s1,2 - Amsterdam (2)

i1 - Amsterdam

t4 – Amsterdam

h2,3 - Amsterdam (2)

c3 - Amsterdam (D)

s3 – Arnhem (0)

t5 – Arnhem

t5- Cologne

i2 – Cologne

h4 – Cologne

c4 – Rhine Valley (B,D)

t5- Bonn

t5 - Rhine Cruise

i2 – Rhine Cruise

s3, 4 - Bacharach on the Rhine, Cruise Rhine (2)

t5- St Goar

i2 – Rhine Land

s5 – Rothenburg (1)

s6 - Dachau (0)

i3 – Heidelberg

t5 - Heidelberg

t6 – Heidelberg

h4 - Heidelberg

h5 – Heidelberg,

h5 - Triberg,

i3 – Black Forest

t6 – Black Forest

i3 – Rhine Falls

t6 – Rhine Falls (Schaffhausen)

h5 - Schaffhausen - Rhine Falls

c5 – Munich (B)

s6 – Munich/ Andechs – Lunch

s6,7 – Austria Tirol, Neuschwanstein Castle, Reutte (2)

c6 – Austria Tirol (B,D)

c*6 – Innsbruck

i5 – Innsbruck

i6 – Venice

c 7 – Venice (B)

s8, 9 – Venice (2)

i7 – Assisi

i8 – Cassino

i8 – Naples

s10,11 – Florence (2)

c10 – Florence (2)

i11 – Florence, Tuscany, Pisa

s12, 13 – Vatican City, Rome (2)

i9,10 – Rome

c8, 9 – Rome (2)

s14, 15 – Cinque Terre (2)

s16, 17 – Swiss Alps Lauterbrunnen Valley (2)

c11 - Lucerne

i3, 4 – Lucerne

t6, 7 – Lucerne

h5 - Lucerne

h6 – Lucerne

h7 – Dijon

i5 – Vachuz

s18 – France – Burgundy, Beaune (1)

s19, 20 – Paris (2)

t8 – Beaunne

h7 - Paris

h8.9 Paris

t8 - Paris

i22, 23 – Paris

t9 – Paris

c12, 13, 14 – Paris

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Individual Tour operators itinerary

Steve (21 days)

1,2 - Amsterdam (2)

3 – Arnhem (0)

3, 4 - Bacharach on the Rhine, Cruise Rhine (2)

5 – Rothenburg (1)

6 - Dachau (0)

6 – Munich/ Andechs – Lunch

6,7 – Austria Tirol, Neuschwanstein Castle, Reutte (2)

8, 9 – Venice (2)

10,11 – Florence (2)

12, 13 – Vatican City, Rome (2)

14, 15 – Cinque Terre (2)

16, 17 – Swiss Alps Lauterbrunnen Valley (2)

18 – France – Burgundy, Beaune (1)

19, 20 – Paris (2)

Steve (14 days)

1,2 – Paris (2)

3 - France – Burgundy, Beaune (1)

4, 5 - Swiss Alps Lauterbrunnen Valley (2)

6, 7 - Austria Tirol, Neuschwanstein Castle, Reutte (2)

8, 9 – Venice (2)

10,11 – Florence (2)

12, 13 – Vatican City, Rome (2)

Contiki (14 days – 2 days in London)

1,2 – London

3 - Amsterdam (D)

4 – Rhine Valley (B,D)

5 – Munich (B)

6 – Austria Tirol (B,D)

*6 – Innsbruck

7 – Venice (B)

8, 9 – Rome (2)

10 – Florence (2)

11 - Lucerne

12, 13, 14 – Paris

Cha Tours (10 days)

2,3 - Amsterdam (2)

4 – Cologne

4 - Heidelberg

5 – Heidelberg, Triberg, Schaffhausen - Rhine Falls, Lucerne

6 – Lucerne

7 – Dijon, Paris

8.9 Paris

Insight (25 days)

1 - Amsterdam

2 – Cologne

2 – Rhine Cruise

2 – Rhine Land

3 – Heidelberg

3 – Black Forest

3 – Rhine Falls

3, 4 – Lucerne

5 – Vachuz

5 – Innsbruck

6 – Venice

7 – Assisi

8 – Cassino

8 – Naples

9,10 – Rome

11 – Florence, Tuscany, Pisa

12, 13 – French Riviera

14 – Camargue

14, 15 – Barcelona

16 – Jalon Valley

17, 18 – Madrid

19 – Lourdes

20 – Bordeaux

21 – Loine Valley

22, 23 – Paris

Traflgar (10 Days)

2, 3 - London

4 – Amsterdam

5, – Arnhem, Cologne, Bonn, Rhine Cruise, St Goar, Heidelberg

6 – Heidelberg

6 – Black Forest

6 – Rhine Falls (Schaffhausen)

6, 7 – Lucerne

8 – Beaunne, Paris

9 – Paris